Being a
politician, she receives her fair share of media glare and criticism; it is a part
of the deal. But I have long been a fan of her. Yes, granted she is no idealist
(would she last in politics if she were?) but I find her brand of politics as
clever but what you may call “above board”. She has the pulse of the voter and
knows what populist schemes to devise- NREGA, food security Bill etc. to
mention a few. But she is neither divisive nor detrimental to the nation. And
she does not play dirty to get to the top, though she just naturally belongs
there by way of her Gandhi dynastic lineage.
I find her quiet strength admirable and she would be one of the women I
admire. So, this piece is about her and UPA politics under her hand.
While much is
written about the Gandhi dynasty, the present generation is not that power
hungry as is often times suggested. After Rajiv’s death, Sonia stayed out of
politics for good many years, 8 was it? Initially happy that brighter talent
can now rise to the top, the Congress soon realized that there is no party
without the Gandhis. Whether pressure from party men or threat of Bofors
scandal, Sonia finally did enter the fray. However when BJP kicked up a storm
over her Italian background, she did not fight back tooth and nail or play
dirty. Despite winning the elections she stepped aside and propped up Manmohan
Singh as the PM. Likewise, Rahul Gandhi, though the supposed crown prince, has
spent more time travelling the countryside meeting the poor etc. than really trying
to gun for Dr. Singh’s job. With Indira Gandhi’s lingering image, Priyanka too
has been touted as the next candidate in waiting. But so far, apart from
supporting Rahul’s campaigns, she seems to have stayed away. Whatever ideas may
have been propounded, none of them seem to be the clichéd ‘power hungry’.
So what
keeps them going in the murky world of politics? Patriotism, destiny, party
pressure or may be a little bit of all because frankly the Congress really has
no identity minus the Gandhi family, at least not in the voters’ mind. That is
not to say Congress does not have other leaders but they have no party without
the Gandhis. So, I’d settle for destiny as the answer to why they continue as
clearly they have seen much violence and tragic losses and their wariness is
often visible.
What about Sonia’s
brand of politics? I think she is not the puppet brand model that party
patriarchs may once have expected her to be. She is indeed shrewd and savvy.
She knows who to trust and puts her confidants into positions of power such
that they do not undermine her. Dr. Singh was hand picked for the job and
temperamentally they do make a great team. While coalition governments were
starting to become the norm, under her leadership, UPA has held on to good
majority in two successive terms. She is quiet, understated and quite graceful
for a politician. She knows how to avoid controversies and has the pulse of the
Indian voter.
On the down
side, she may never herald path breaking changes but even keeping such a
diverse and factional country democratic, strong and stable is no mean
task. While UPA has come under the
hammer for economic slowdown, I think the bigger issue is falling status of
women in this country. And that no politician – be it the ruling party or the
opposition is even talking about. But
again, that is as much a social as political issue which increasingly seems
like a lost cause without a worthy champion. Ya, people have protested, media
has written scores about it, but crime and general harassment of women seems to
be on the rise not decline. So far as the economic slowdown itself is
concerned, one couldn’t expect a better FM than Chidambaram but again good
economic policies will not be populist and tend to go against what the voter
thinks is good (more on that later). So, politicians are wary to implement
them.
Sonia
Gandhi herself is a good leader whose best quality I think is her ability to
negotiate out of difficult situations. She knows how to keep the power balance
without getting murky herself. Congress as a party has survived on her back. As
a politician I think she is great and as a woman I think awesome – be it in her
role in the past as a daughter in law (to Indira Gandhi, mind you), as a wife
and as a mother. The word balancer comes to mind when I think of her. Does her
Italian background matter, I don’t think so. I think she is quite a good role
model for women.
Now this is
increasingly looking like a UPA blog – so expect something lighter in the next
vein..
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